We have two male Cape porcupines here at Newquay Zoo. You can find the brothers, Pins and Needle, in our Wonders of the Wild area.
Cape porcupines come from central and southern Africa. They are the largest rodents in Africa and the biggest of all 30 porcupine species.
They live in tropical savannahs and prefer making their homes in caves and rocky crevices. They mostly eat fruits, roots, bulbs, bark and tubers.
Cape porcupines have long black and white spines, interspersed with shorter, spiky defence quills, along with a crest of long, bristly hairs that run down their head and shoulders.
Interesting facts!
- The spines on their tails are hollow, which are used to make a rattling sound to scare off predators.
- While Cape porcupines mostly eat plant matter, they have also been known to gnaw on carrion and bones!
- Cape porcupines aren’t usually dangerous, but when cornered, they will use their sharply pointed defence quills to charge at their attackers.
Conservation
There are no major threats to Cape porcupines. However, many farmers consider them to be a nuisance, as Cape porcupines are known to eat crops and strip the bark of trees, leaving the trees vulnerable to fungal infections.
